Ruthless South Africa ensured there would be no fairytale finish to this year’s World Rugby Classic for USA who were crushed 47-7 in last night’s semi-final.

USA pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the Classic’s history when they upset Australia on Tuesday night but were well and truly outclassed by a star-studded Springboks at North Field.

South Africa will now face Argentina in tomorrow’s final after the Pumas ground out a 7-3 victory against Classic Lions in yesterday’s other semi-final.

A hat-trick of tries by Albert van den Berg helped propel the Springboks to victory, with Chris Kruger (2), Victor Matfield and Jonno Brayley also contributing to their team’s hefty total.

Paul Emerick scored a consolation try for the USA to reduce South Africa’s lead to 27-7 early in the second half.

Springboks coach Robbie Fleck said he expects a tough game against the Pumas but is confident of his side landing their fifth Classic title.

“We’re very happy with that performance tonight. We didn’t play all that well against the French and we spoke about that before the game. We absolutely want to win this tournament after (losing) last year’s final (against Australia).

“This year we’ve really put our hands up and we’ve come to deliver. The Argies are tough competitors, though, and have some excellent players.

“They’re our mates, we will have a beer with them after the game, but it’s going to be a tough game.”

Argentina, who claimed the 2011 Classic title, were deserving of victory in a physical affair against a slightly one-dimensional Lions side.

James Brown kicked a penalty early in the first half to give Lions a 3-0 lead which they managed to protect until half-time. After the break Argentina’s more expansive attacking game began to bear fruit with Bernardo Stortoni powering through for a try that was kicked home by Federico Todeschini.

Pumas manager Rodolfo Ventura believed his team had played the smarter rugby and more than matched Lions’ physicality.

“Really I think our tackling helped win us the game tonight. And we knew how to use the wind to our advantage in the second half,” he said.

“We now have a chance to be successful in this tournament although South Africa will be a very tough game.”

In last night’s opening game Bermuda lost 21-12 to Lloyds RFC from London.

Tonight’s Plate semi-final games will see France take on Australia, and Canada face Italy